


I've Got a Cuff on You

by pepsicokes



Category: Football RPF
Genre: FC Barcelona, M/M, Real Madrid CF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 15:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2314544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepsicokes/pseuds/pepsicokes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an effort to promote the upcoming Clasico, Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona have agreed to handcuff their biggest stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, together on the eve of their big match as a publicity stunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've Got a Cuff on You

**Author's Note:**

> Fulfilling an anonymous prompt for a footy fic-a-thon:
> 
> "leo/cristiano; as some sort of marketing gag (a campaign for tolerance maybe), they are handcuffed together for a day/two days/a week and need to convince everyone that they don't run into any problems and are just fine spending time like that. ~feelings happen obviously"
> 
> Edit: Here's [a Chinese translation](http://fanghuihui.lofter.com/post/3b1be6_2c2c296) of the fic!

**MARCA report:**   _In an effort to promote the upcoming Clasico, Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona have agreed to handcuff their biggest stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, together on the eve of their big match as a publicity stunt. Will these two rivals get along or will we see sparks fly?_

At the clink of their handcuffs being locked together by a random staff member, Cristiano and Leo wiggled their arms around to test its security. Looked pretty sturdy alright. While the cameras were rolling, Cristiano and Leo were smiling, amused by this whole concept. To the average viewer, they looked pretty friendly with each other. But as soon as the cameras bowed out, Cristiano sighed in annoyance. Leo was blank-faced, not particularly pleased by this development but not particularly against it either.

"Alright, so how do you want to do this?" Cristiano began, placing an impatient hand on his hips.

Leo shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't too sure himself.

"Well, you better think fast," Cristiano continued. "The more idle we are, the slower the clock ticks."

The Argentinian raised an eyebrow and scoffed a bit. "Why do I have to do all the thinking?" he asked. He raised his cuffed hand and carried Cristiano's hand along with it. "We're in this together, you know."

Cristiano smiled a smile that was reminiscent of his sarcastic expression when a referee would make a bad call against his team. "Fine, then," he replied. "Why don't we go to my teammates first and then we go to yours? That sound good?"

"That seems like a good plan," Leo conceded.

"Of course it's a good plan, it's a great plan!" went Cristiano. "I thought of it, not you."

Leo was slightly annoyed by Cristiano's attitude but his shy nature kept him from confronting him about it. He just wasn't as temperamental as his fellow Argentinians. Both teams were training for the upcoming match and because of this publicity stunt, Cristiano and Leo were excused from training. Since Cristiano couldn't drive his car, a staff member was given the task to take them from place to place. First up was Ciudad Real Madrid where the _blancos_ were currently training. It was a weird feeling for Leo as they walked together through the training facility. He felt like he was walking on enemy grounds. When the two stars made themselves visible, it just so happened that the team was resting. They had heard about this marketing ploy before and they rushed over to Cristiano and Leo, laughing their hearts out.

"Oh good, you brought a ritual sacrifice! The football gods will be pleased!" Sergio quipped, lifting the chain up with his hand and smiling down at Leo.

Club captain Iker was off at the side, drinking from a bottle of water with his gloves tucked under his arm. He walked up to his vice-captain and pulled his arm gently way from the handcuffed duo. "Nene, he's a human being, not an animal sacrifice," he said with a serious tone on his voice. While Sergio was being pulled aside, he grabbed Iker's bottle and drank from it himself. Iker turned to Leo and asked, "Was he bothering you?"

Leo shook his head. "I'm surprised he's actually pretty tame."

Sergio placed the bottle down and turned sharply towards Leo, "What did you expect?"

"I think he thought you'd be meaner, scarier..." said Cristiano, cutting Leo off before he could even say anything in reply. "You do have a reputation, you know."

The truth is, that's exactly what Leo was thinking. He looked at Sergio and remembered how he tackled him by his legs and pushed around his _blaugrana_ teammates when they swarmed to protect Leo. Sergio got sent off because of that but Leo never forgot about that moment he was left writhing in pain on the pitch.

"Well, I'm not that scary now, aren't I?" Sergio asked with a goofy grin, not-so-gently patting Leo on the back.

Leo looked over at Cristiano, expecting him to say something but Cristiano simply shrugged.

After a while, the team bid their goodbyes to the pair as Ancelotti all reminded them to get back to training. Cristiano and Leo walked back to the car, their next destination being Leo's turf. It was a five-hour drive from Madrid to Barcelona. It was a mostly silent, mostly awkward car ride.

"You took the words out of my mouth there," Leo commented, referring to the incident with Sergio. Cristiano took the time to turn away from the window and looked at Leo.

"I had a feeling," Cristiano replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Leo felt that the comment should've come from Cristiano and not from him. It softened the blow to Sergio at least. Not much else was said after that. Cristiano decided to listen to some music from his phone while Leo took a nap to bide his time. When they rolled into the Catalan city, Leo was able to wake up in time to instruct the way to the Ciudad Deportivo. There was still time left to greet the team. Cristiano pulled down his headset and looked around his surroundings. When they pulled in at the training ground, it was Leo leading the way this time. Much like the Madrid players, the Barca players were also informed of this act beforehand. They weren't very excited about it.

"Big fan, Cris!" Luis Suarez said rather enthusiastically, shaking Cristiano's free hand.

"Well, at least I've got one fan around here," said Cristiano, laughing to himself.

The reception between the one at Madrid and Barcelona felt off to Cristiano. In Madrid, his own teammates were more interested in Leo's arrival. In Barcelona, he felt ignored by Leo's teammates (save for Suarez). It made him feel a little insecure. Pique, Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta were all conversing in Catalan to isolate Cristiano. They were asking Leo things like "What has he been like?" "Is he as dramatic off the pitch as he is on it?" "Does he take a lot of selfies?" "Does he look in the mirror a lot?" Cristiano didn't understand what they were saying but he had a feeling it wasn't good.

"He's alright," Leo told them. "He's good at reading people's feelings. He was kind of annoying at first but he's actually pretty nice."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Sergio replied, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.

"You try handcuffing yourself to him for a day," Leo answered with a chuckle. "Maybe you can warm up to him."

Pique ruffled Leo's hair and said, "We'll take your word for it, La Pulga."

After talking to Leo, they took turns lightly patting Cristiano on the arm and the Portuguese looked up at them with a shy smile and a nod of acknowledgement. Cristiano and Leo returned to the car. This social experiment was almost over, much to their relief.

"Well, we have a few hours left until freedom," Cristiano commented, looking down at his cuffed hand.

"Do you want to grab a bite somewhere?" Leo asked. "I'll pay."

The Portuguese international scoffed. "Don't patronize me," he said. He looked snooty which turned Leo off but then he broke into laughter and said, "Fine, fine, let's go eat." He had a nice, warm smile which Leo was relieved of seeing. He took Cristiano to an Argentinian restaurant within his area. Again, everyone was more welcoming towards Leo.

"People sure love you everywhere," Cristiano commented, drinking from a glass of wine.

"I guess they do," Leo replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But people love you, too."

"If you say so."

Leo cocked his head to the side. Cristiano seemed dejected about something but he didn't want to pry. He didn't know how to handle social situations like this one. Leo looked like he was about to say something but Cristiano already beat him to the punch.

"You know, I get it," Cristiano began. "People see me on the pitch and they think that's how I am in real life. Arrogant Cristiano, always complaining Cristiano, cruel Cristiano... I get it. People don't like that about me so automatically, they're more drawn to you."

Leo fell silent. What was he supposed to say?

"You're not a bad guy, Cris," Leo replied. "That's what I've learned from today."

He placed his free hand on Cristiano's shoulder as consolation.

"I can tell the world how different you are as a person, how good you are, how you deserve to be loved as much as me, if not more."

Leo smiled when Cristiano turned his head towards his rival.

"You are a good player, that much is true," Leo said. "But you are also a good person and they shouldn't have to be handcuffed to you for an entire day to know that."

Cristiano finally stopped his frowning. He placed his free hand over Leo's and grinned.

"You're not gonna make me pay for this meal to prove your point, you know," said Cristiano.

Leo laughed out loud.

"I know, I know..."


End file.
